Swansea University staff, students, local businesses and members of the community have joined Vice-Chancellor Richard B Davies and Santander Universities UK Director Matt Hutnell to officially launch the start of a brand new bikesharing scheme for the city. Swansea now joins London and Milton Keynes, with Brunel soon to follow, to become one of four Santander backed bikeshare schemes.

Santander Cycles Swansea was made possible following Swansea University’s fantastic win in the Santander Cycles University Challenge last December. During the energetic crowdfunding campaign, University students and staff, together with the local community and businesses came together to support the University in its bid to bring bikesharing to the city. The competition win saw the University secure an amazing £100,000 of Santander funding towards the capital costs for the scheme, which will be delivered by nextbike, one of the world’s most extensive bikeshare providers.

Mark Thomas, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure Management, said: “ We have invested heavily in cycling infrastructure in the city over many years and as part of our active travel plan commitments we are continuing to look at ways to expand and improve the cycle network across Swansea.